The Learn to Row course graduates made their competitive debut at the Upper Thames Autumn Head in Henley on 29 October 2017. They were joined by some very special guests from the senior crews (ahem, ringers) who generously donated their time – and bodies – to ensure the newbies didn’t miss out on their first race.

Despite numerous head count and administrative challenges, when the men’s and women’s teams reached their respective starts they were fully focussed on completing the 3km in good time to show off what they’ve learnt since they first hit the water back in July.  With no other Novice 8 teams participating this year, neither team was able to match the opposition times. However - both teams had a cracking day, learning so much and experiencing first-hand the satisfaction of racing other teams.

It’s safe to say that we’ve got the bug, and are now proudly showing off our aches, pains and blisters in preparation for the next opportunity to represent SONS in head competition.

Six Sons crews raced in the Pairs Head on 14 October, mostly in double sculls.  Les and Brad were the fastest of our men in 14:54, Mel and Colleen were the fastest of our women in 16:40. 

The race committee had unwisely decided to use the new performance ranking indicators to divide the entries into divisions.  This cunning plan did not go well but nobody let that spoil the race.  The water was pleasantly flat for the Tideway and a stiff tailwind helped the less fit to keep the rating up from Mortlake to Harrods.  The Sons crews generally did well against those that they would regard as peers. 

Eight of the mens masters squad travelled to Lake Bled to compete in the 2017 World Rowing Masters Regatta.  (With help much appreciated from two TSS rowers, Hilary and a Thames cox.)  Results were disappointing due to a combination of strong competition and unsuitable hired boats.  That apart, the regatta was a fine experience with eight lane racing in a spectacularly good location and ample opportunities for socialising.  It was a suitable finale to a long and demanding season for the mens masters.

What a fun day racing on the river Lea - clashes with blades and riverboats guaranteed. 

Nine races, nine crews and four pots! A stellar effort from Sons to kick start the 2017/2018 season.  

Masters crews: 

W.IM2.4x Ruth, Sanne, Coops, Jenny 

Mx.MasC.2x  Dave Smith and Coops (winner) 

Mx.MasC.2x Drago and Darlings 

MasD.1x Dave Smith (winner) 

Senior Women's crews:

Mx.IM2.4+ Emily, Georgie, V, George, Darlings 

W.IM3.4+ Emily, Georgie, V, Laura, Eleanor (winner) 

W.IM2.2x Georgie and George 

W.NOV.2x Darlings and V (winner) 

W.NOV.2x Laura and Eleanor

Special mention to Eleanor taking home a pot in her first race with Sons, Dave Smith continuing his winning form in the single, and finally to Laura and her brownies which were a big hit after boat loading. 

From all accounts the river racing over 600m was well worth the trip to N/E London. See you next Autumn, Lea! 

Members turned out in force for a boat christening in honour of Colin Price, the club president.  Colin rowed for Furnivall SC in the 1970s in a number of successful club crews.  He moved to Sons in 1981 with a group from FSC and set about revitalising the club.  Les, naming his double, shared a few anecdotes from those days and explained how important Colin's boundless energy and enthusiasm had been for him personally and the club as a whole.  Mel had arranged a fine barbecue, the sun was shining, many old members had come along to reminisce, the Becky M was rechristened after refurbishment and a good time was had by all.

The first rule of the Voga Longa, is that no one puts in a write up about the Voga Longa. As a result we never really know what happens out there in Venice. The bare facts appear to be that five from our women's masters squad were invited last year, and liked it so much that they all went again in 2017. Guarded verbal accounts hint at a long distance tour of Venice in an atmosphere of aquatic carnival. Specific details, detailing a group rendition of the song from the Cornetto ad, for example, have not been supplied, leading us to conclude that what happens in Venice stays in Venice. In fact, pretty much all we have is this photo. 

THE POST-RACE SHOT, COMPLETE WITH MEDALS AND SCIENTIFICALLY-CONSTITUTED RECOVERY DRINKS. 

STEPHEN, LES, BRAD AND BRUCE LOOK TIDY OFF THE START AT HENLEY IN THIS NICE SHOT FROM BIG BLADE PHOTOGRAPHY. 

When Henley Royal Regatta comes to an end, the booms stay out a little longer for the increasingly well-attended masters' event which uses a shortened course of around 1000 meters. With no doubling up allowed, Sons of the Thames Rowing Club put out a quad in MasE4x, Stephen replacing Ed in the line up that lost in the final last year to a Howarth/Hollingworth Lake Composite. After a bye in the first round, Stephen, Les, Brad and Bruce came up against Norwich Rowing Club whose crew included Audinis, the current national champion at Mas E 1x. Our quartet sculled tidily and sustained a split time of around 1:50 per 500m, but Norwich went faster with a final verdict to them of three lengths. The Hammersmith crew took some comfort to see that Norwich beat Peterborough in the final by a greater margin of five lengths.

Henley Masters seems to have been an enjoyable regatta though. As Les comments, "The 1000m boomed course from Temple Island to Upper Thames is excellent. The sun was shining this year, the wind was barely stirring the trees and the water was good." 

Having lived in Hammersmith for over 5 years the pubs along the tideway gradually became somewhat of a happy place for me.  Watching the activity on the water with the sun shining and the idle chatter of happy people made it easy to enjoy. Seeing the crews improve, excel and race each other throughout the year struck a cord with my competitive streak.  So with a nudge from a few friends, I contacted the tideway rowing clubs asking if there was a learn to row group. 

Along came Sons Men’s Captain and learn to row instructor, Sam!

6ft of muscle striding across the courtyard, perma-tan glowing and the air of confidence that only comes from knowing your stuff. 'This is going to be tough' I thought to myself, shaking his hand with all the ‘man strength’ I could muster. Needless to say I was committed! I felt both welcome and motivated the moment I stepped through the door, and let’s be honest, I wanted a perma-tan too! 

So the course kicked off with a range of people of all ages, abilities, characters and fitness levels, learning this new sport at what felt like a rate of knots! It was great! We trained hard and learnt new calls, techniques and tips in every session. To my surprise our fitness and strength improved at an alarming rate, erg scores kept getting better and my love for the sport blossomed. 

Then it happened! Two months in, I was approached by the Women’s Captain! Fresh faced from a morning on the river, guns out (now known as The Sons Guns!). Did I want to step up to the challenge, up my fitness and potentially seat race for the top boat?

Did I ever!!

Training went from a part of my life, to my entire life! I became a part of a crew that I would not only care for and respect, but would do anything for. I was lucky enough to get thrown into every boat available, for one to one training in an attempt to catch up on four years of experience. I found that all I wanted to do was get on the water, get in the gym and get better. I was blessed with a coach and team that would not only encourage and nurture that drive, but also temper it when needed! 

Henley? Tell me more!

As a Christmas present I got to complete my first 2K! Not quite sure what I was in for, I rocked up blissfully ignorant of what was to come and managed to not only set my PB that took me 6 painful months to beat, but also, find that ‘wall’ everyone talks about…I think I will be seeing a lot of this particular wall!  

Do you want to race at Henley? …. I tell my friends I’ll see them in July.

We competed in every race we could, always learning how to work together as a team, finding out what we were good at together and how to get the most out of our seat, each other, and the boat. The bitterness of defeat tempered only by how much we had learned from each experience. With the support of the more experienced girls and their guidance and drive, it was easy to stay motivated and focus on the next challenge.

12 Weeks until Henley!

Along came Easter and a mini training camp. The seat racing started and the blisters got worse. The fear of leather hands slowly became a reality, and the sun came out.....ish. Finding new frustrations at every turn; desperately wanting to finesse those catches and get more power in the water, but not washing out or digging too deep … the list goes on. This made the start of summer both exhausting and a test of emotional endurance. I found a new wall, past the first one, waiting for me with open arms!

Not long until Henley!  Enter regatta season! 

Wow. What fun! Learning standing starts was hilarious! With only an evil laugh and a 'don't worry you will feel it!' from coach, this Mel became a rag doll!  We competed and did well at Hammersmith, Chiswick, Dorney, Nottingham and Twickenham, where I won my first ever pot! Definitely want more of those!!! #GlugGlug

Two weeks until Henley!!!! 

Camp was off the chart! I had no idea what to expect, only that I would be returning to England a little broken! There was rather a lot of hard work, some serious eating of cucumber (don't ask), a few tears, more laughter than I can quantify, a grazed knee and an epic, unofficial win in the Bulgarian national championships. Oh, and it happened to be my Birthday, as you do! 

One week to Henley! 

We were feeling strong and confident, We had trained all we could, given everything to rowing throughout the year, so all we had to do now was our best, everything we had, dig a little deeper for a little bit more … and a little bit more, and ... you know ... win! 

Henley was amazing.

I have never experienced such raw power, energy and focus of so many women in such a tranquil space. The river is beautiful and it was calling to us!  We were so happy to finally be there!

Friday was a good day!  We smashed the time trials and stormed through the first heat making it to the Quarterfinals!  Saturday brought the race against Oxford City, a strong team with experience and the technique that comes with years of rowing. They had us by a length and a half but we fought them, and they earned it! I found some new walls in that race too!

So thank you Sons for one hell of an epic year learning to row from Hammersmith to Henley, and of course, for the perma-tan. 

WITH SO MANY FOURTH PLACES AT THE BRITISH MASTERS ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS, IT WAS GOOD TO SEE BRAD AND TIM COLLECT THEIR MEDALS. 

All Sons of the Thames crews reached their finals at the British Masters on 10 June, Brad and Tim taking bronze in MasE.2x. This was a great result for Tim who joined the club late last year, sculling right over left which is how he learnt as a boy. He adapted to the more conventional left over right pattern surprisingly quickly and paired well with Brad who currently holds the Mas E 2x Pennant in the Pairs Head. 

A strong and gusty cross-head wind made conditions difficult at Holme Pierrepont and impaired the quality of racing.  The wind shadow in lane 1 was worth a five year age handicap in masters rowing terms.  All four Sons crews progressed serenely through the elimination rounds despite the conditions.  Brad and Tim sculled with length and power in the final of MasE.2x and looked good value for their bronze medal in a strong field.  The MasA.2x, MasE.4x and MasC.4x raced respectably in their finals but fell short of the medal positions.  Mirko and Tommy endured particularly bad luck with lane allocations and had the misfortune to be fourth placed in two events.